Four fantastic flights today! Two flights from Aurora X5 “Firefly”, and two from Artemis X2 “Garfield”.

Firefly lifts off on mission AU-14...

Aurora X5 “Firefly” was flown with two purposes. 1), to test out the MK-II Camera pod system. 2) to try to capture some aerial photographs of the location where X4 Perseus Gallifrey was last seen on decent over the wooded area of the field.

While we were unable to get any clear pictures of the tree field (winds were not favorable enough to orient the rocket to get a good picture), the new camera pod’s performance was QUITE impressive.

Firefly had considerably less drag with this camera pod vs. the older one. This made a marked difference (for the better) with overall rocket performance. It appears that the ejection delay needs to be changed from the current five seconds back to seven. Altitude was much higher as well, and will improve more with a longer ejection delay charge.

Firefly captured some impressive views from an estimated 1450+ feet in the air.

Firefly's view from over 1450 feet in the air...

Artemis rocket “Garfield” made a couple of impressive flights on its return to the sky flights. The last flights of any Artemis rocket was July 25th, 2010. It was nice to see the rocket fly majestically again! The missions for Garfield this time were to test the new anti-zipper design modifications as well as the modification to its payload sections.

Artemis X2 rocket "Garfield" just before mission ALS033 - its first flight since July 25, 2010...

A new nose cone camera is being completed tonight to fly aboard Aurora X5 “Firefly” on a mission to get arial footage of the treetops in an effort to locate Perseus rocket “Gallifrey” lost in the trees during the launches on June 11th. Two missions are planned.

Artemis X2 rocket “Garfield” is planned to complete a few launches as well. Garfield is the first Artemis rocket to be retrofitted to use an anti-zipper scheme. The purpose of these missions is to test the design under normal flight conditions.

Aurora X5-03 booster “Big Red II” took to the sky in two amazing flights. The maiden flight on an Aerotech E-18 (5) (Aurora mission AU-12) was flawless. Winds were above 10 MPH, so the launch angle was quite a ways from vertical. A slight bit of “rod whip” from the weight of the rocket caused a slight tail-end wiggle when leaving the pad, but Big Red II recovered immediately, and flew straight and true.

Video frame capture of Big Red II's maiden flight launch...

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEvzAtSRUvs

Flight #2 (mission AU-13) was just as spectacular. Launch angle was a little closer to straight, and Big Red II screamed skyward to 1292 feet on an Aerotech F-24 (5). On board camera malfunctioned on this flight, so we have no on board video of that launch.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_ccdauRRxo

Post flight inspections show the booster and other sections of the rocket in great shape. A little bit of soot on the fins from the flames bouncing up at the rocket from the launch pad blast deflector on flight #2 was the only sign of wear and tear this time around.

Frame capture froml launch video showing flames from the motor bouncing back to the bottom of Big Red II

The ejection baffle system and flight surfaces all look good.

Big Red II taking to the sky on flight # 2

Next scheduled launch for Big Red II is May 1st, 2011 in Amherst, OH.

Firefly’s next mission will be April 30th, and will also be in Amherst. This mission will test the electronic parachute deployment system on an Aerotech F35 motor.